Surviving the bet
by 999Shikaku999
Summary: The bet was that she wouldn’t be able to survive in one of the roughest neighbourhoods for six months on her own. Now it’s up to her to prove everyone wrong. And just who does this Gaara think he is anyway?
1. Chapter 1

This is sort of based on a (day) dream of mine hehe. Anywayz, this story just… Writing it went much easier with this story at the moment for some reason…

I just HAD to write this lolz. Let me know if you feel the same way haha ;)

Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Sighing Christine looked at her new clothes. She had to buy something that would fit in more. Her new outfit consisted of a loose fitting navy blue sweater, a pair of jeans and some cheap tennis shoes and a black coat. She had put her hair up in a high ponytail. She had taken some personal items and her money with her in an ordinary black backpack.

Getting on the bus she had been a bit uncomfortable. It was the first time she had ever traveled by bus. However things seemed to be going well. When she got off the bus she still had to walk a mile.

The streets were making her a bit uneasy. Actually it was more because of the people on the streets. She may not be exactly streetwise but she knew it would be safer to avoid groups of people.

She stood outside, looking around her. This was one of those neighbourhoods which had definitely earned its bad reputation. As a group of guys were staring at her she felt extremely out of place. She was starting to regret ever making that stupid bet.

>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>

_She sighed looking outside. "Sometimes I wish I was just one of the lower class people. That I was just like everyone else. It sure does get lonely on the top. Yet I can understand how hard it must be for them to even survive."_

_Robert Platt, her publisher sneered at her. "No you don't. How could you? You need money. You couldn't possibly survive on your own." He laughed. "Just another rich kid talking nonsense." _

_Normally she would not have taken this from the man, but she realized he was right. She had never had to fend for herself. She had never even done anything to prove she could work for her money. It had all been handed to her and she was sick of it. _

_She glared at the people outside. "Fine." She smirked at his obvious confusion._

"_Then allow me to prove to you that I can live without help from anyone."_

_He grinned. "Let's make it a bet then, shall we?" He sat down. "Now as for the terms… I am not completely inhuman, therefore you will be allowed a bit of money to get started. Five hundred dollars should be enough. You will also be living in one of the worst parts of town. Help will not be an option; you will not accept it from anyone. You will have to find a job to support yourself and live on your own. This is all for a duration of six months. And considering I already stated you will not be allowed to accept help, you will have to keep your boyfriend out of this."_

_Smirking once more she nodded. "I'll just tell him I have to go away on business for my latest book. That you have scheduled me for a rather private tour."_

"_Good. It starts one week from now. Your assistant can hold down the fort here for you. That is why I insisted on you hiring one."_

"_To help you lose the bet?" She laughed at his expression._

"_I am not going to lose. You will make sure of that." He smirked confidently winking at her. _

_She shuddered. "Time will tell." She replied with a determined look in her eyes. _

"_One more thing. What will I get out of this bet?"_

"_Proof." She answered dryly._

"_I'm afraid that isn't nearly worth the effort. After all…" He leaned back in his chair. "I am not the one with something to prove."_

"_You greedy bastard." _

"_Such language." He shook his head. "If I win the bet you pay me one million dollars. That is just pocket change to you anyway."_

"_And if I win?" She chose to ignore that last comment. As if she could help being born into an extremely wealthy family. The fate of her family however proves that money doesn't make people happy. After all, her grandfather is her only living relative left. Pushing her emotions away she regained her composure. Robert hadn't seen; he was too dense to notice the slight change in her mood. She had learned to hide her true feelings well after having to deal with fortune hunters and fake friends for so long._

"_You will have your proof." He snorted, quite pleased with his retort._

_She smiled icily. "I'm afraid that is not nearly good enough."_

_He looked very displeased with the fact that his own words had just been thrown back at him._

"_If _I _win, then you will give up your share of the profit you make out of my latest book and it will be donated to the orphanage."_

_He frowned. "Well, since I'm not going to lose I guess that can be considered reasonable."_

"_Then it's a bet." She shook his hand only to quickly wipe it off. This guy disgusted her; however he did his job well enough and kept her a famous writer, under a false name of course. She left his office as fast as she could. She had to start planning. This was one bet she would not lose._

_>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>_

She squared her shoulders and walked right into the building. Once inside she wrinkled her nose. It was just as shabby inside as it was outside. She saw a man sitting on a chair watching television.

"Excuse me."

He didn't react. He started to laugh at whatever he was watching on television.

"Excuse me." She said again, a bit louder this time.

The man still didn't react. He either couldn't hear her because he had sound of the television turned up so high or he was ignoring her. Either way, she was fed up with his behaviour.

"HEY!" She yelled as loud as she could.

Finally the guy answered in a rude tone. "Whaddya want?"

"I'm looking for the landlord."

"You found him." He scratched his nose. "Now whaddya want?"

"I rented an apartment here. We spoke over the phone?"

"Oh yeah… Now I remember. You're that broad that wanted apartment 213."

He pulled out a key. "This is how it's going down. I give you the key after you give me the first month's pay. That will be two hundred dollars. Cash, I don't take no cheques." He scratched his nose again and pulled a pencil from behind his ear.

She pulled out her wallet and gave him the two hundred dollars. Quickly she put the wallet away again when she caught him eyeing it.

"What was your name again?"

"Christine. Christine Thayer." She was about to show him her identification but he waved it off.

"Whatever. A name is enough. You could even give me a fake one for all I care." He threw the keys at her which she clumsily caught. "Second floor." And with that he returned to his precious television.

Her heart was racing as she made her way to the stairs. It wasn't exactly a fake name, though it wasn't her official name either. She had used her mother's maiden name. Though she tried to stay out of the media's sight as much as possible (with success) making it almost impossible for people to recognize her face, she knew that almost everyone was familiar with her name. So to avoid unwanted questions she took on another name as a precaution.

She wondered how Eric, her boyfriend, was doing. He had taken the news extremely well, almost as if he was glad she was going away. She shook her head, she shouldn't think such things. She was just being paranoid.

Lost in her thoughts she wasn't really watching where she was going causing her to bump into someone. Landing rather ungracefully on the floor she looked up. "I'm sorry…"

A tall redhead glared down at her. He had black rings around his eyes and a tattoo on his forehead. It was the kanji for love.

Not being able to help herself she giggled causing the redhead's glare to worsen.

"What is your problem?" He snapped still glaring as if he was trying to burn a hole into her.

She stood up and dusted herself off. "I couldn't help but find the irony amusing."

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Your tattoo doesn't match your attitude." And with that she walked past him.

Behind her the redhead smirked. No one had ever talked to him like that. "You must be new."

"As a matter of fact, yes I am." She turned around. "Why?"

"People around here know better than to talk to me like that. If you value your life I suggest you learn that as well." He stalked off.

'Great. Meeting a psychopath on the first day, someone must really like me up there.'

"Don't mind Gaara, he's always like that."

As she searched for the person who had spoken she came face to face with a blonde girl with four ponytails.

"I see. And you are?"

"I'm Temari. Gaara's sister unfortunately." She laughed.

"Nice meeting you then. I'm Christine. So he's always this social?" Christine smiled.

"No. Usually he's even more social." She shrugged.

The girls laughed.

"So you're the new girl, 213 right?"

"Yeah."

"Well I live just across the hall. So if you need anything…"

Christine smiled again gratefully. "Thanks. Likewise." She winked.

"See ya."

"Yeah, see ya." And with that she opened the door of her new apartment peering inside only to find it was practically empty. Her shoulders slumped as she slammed the door shut. "Great. Just great." She muttered to herself taking in what little furniture she had.

Opening the cupboards she nearly screeched as a cockroach fell out. They were completely empty. Breathing in and out to calm herself down she clutched her backpack. Luckily she had brought some food with her. She could do this. She would show him.

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Read & Review

Cya ;)


	2. Chapter 2

And another story that has been updated. Maybe I could do my Gundam Wing story next. Though I am more obsessed with Naruto at the moment hehe.

Nonetheless I'm on a role… for now anywayz lolz, hope you enjoy this chapter ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (don't bother, seriously, if you think I'm a bitch you should meet my lawyer)

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Groaning she woke up. For a moment she had been convinced that yesterday had been nothing but a bad dream. Unfortunately now that she was awake she had to face reality. And it was far from a dream.

The entire room was light, she didn't even have curtains. She didn't have many extra clothes and she still had to buy food. And she had three hundred dollars left.

A knock on her door drew her attention. Getting up stiffly she walked over to open it. Once she had she wished she could just slam it shut again. There stood the landlord grinning like an idiot.

"Dressed I see? Too bad."

'Annoying pervert.' She resisted the urge to slap him for that comment. He was the landlord after all.

"I forgot to tell you yesterday. But since people have been vanishing into thin air lately, I have decided to ask an extra month's pay. Just in case you plan on splitting without paying."

She went to get her bag. 'Vanishing into thin air?' She lifted an eyebrow. 'That's an original excuse; I never would have guessed he had enough brains to make that one up.'

The guy peered inside curiously. "You haven't done much yet."

"I just arrived yesterday."

He shrugged, his eyes gleaming when she handed him the money. Grinning he left.

She just sat down on the floor. 'Make that only a hundred dollars left. So much for decorating for a while.' Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen out of her bag she started to make a shopping list. She would have to keep it to a minimum until she had an idea of how much everything would cost and until she would be able to bring in some money.

She opened the fridge. It was an old thing but it worked, sort of. It wasn't really able to reach the temperature it should, but it would have to do. The inside however looked disgusting. 'What was that stuff growing there?' She quickly shut the fridge again. 'I don't want to know.' She sighed. 'I guess a good cleaning is in order as well.'

After an hour or so of picking up stuff and placing things where they should be, the room looked somewhat presentable.

She had gone downstairs to ask the guy if he had anything to clean with. He had laughed. Her eye was twitching. Hasn't the guy ever heard of hygiene or something?

Exploring the building she had found some useful items stashed away in a closet. Figuring the guy didn't use them anyway and wouldn't miss them, she dragged them upstairs.

Now armed with the right equipment she went to work. She had brought a miniature radio with her and turned it on. It was easier to work with music. And so the time flew by.

Glancing at the clock she saw that it was 3 pm already. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead. Proudly she stood up and looked at what she had accomplished. She had cleaned the floors, the entire kitchen along with the fridge and her bedroom. The windows had been cleaned as well, now you could actually see what was outside instead of a blur.

She had put her stuff away in her bare room, furnished with only a tiny bed and a closet. In the rest of her apartment stood nothing besides a worn-out couch, a couple of chairs next to a table that looked slightly less than stable.

Carefully she weighed out her options. Furniture shouldn't be too expensive in this part of town. But how was she to get it here? Plus she sort of had a money issue at the moment. The landlord had asked for two months instead of just one; meaning that she had a hundred dollars left to survive on until she found a job. So she would only spend it on groceries now; that was the most important after all.

Another knock on her door made her raise her eyebrows. Slightly frustrated she could do nothing but hope it wasn't the landlord again. The knocking persisted. "Coming."

"I come bearing coffee." Smirking the blonde stood in the hall as the door opened before her.

Christine smirked back. "Hey. Temari right?"

"You remembered my name. I forgot yours though." She laughed.

Shaking her head she couldn't hold back a laugh. "Christine."

"Nice to meet you… Again." Stepping inside Temari looked around. "Well doesn't this look nice and cosy. I love what you've done with the place; the lack of furniture really brings out the space."

The brunette gave her a lopsided grin. "I know."

Temari snorted with laughter.

"At least it's clean now." Christine took the mug offered to her.

"Yeah. The guy has absolutely no sense of hygiene."

"I was thinking exactly the same thing earlier." Another knock on the door could be heard. "I never knew I was this popular."

"That's probably my brother. I told him I was here."

"Gaara?"

Temari shook her head. "No. My other brother, Kankurou. Gaara doesn't believe in knocking. He prefers to break the door down." She rolled her eyes.

Snickering Christine moved to open the door. There stood a rather tall man with slightly tousled brown hair.

Kankurou was about to knock again when the door opened. With his hand still in the air and his mouth open he stared at the woman standing before him. Closing his mouth he smirked. "Well hello. When Temari told me there was a new girl in the building she forgot to mention that you were beautiful as well."

Temari just shook her head and dragged her brother in, forcing him to sit on a chair. "Christine, meet my other brother, Kankurou."

She smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine." He looked around and then grinned. "There are only two chairs."

Temari crossed her arms. "I'll stand."

He huffed and leaned back in the chair. Unfortunately the chairs weren't that stable either and it broke. Slightly dazed Kankurou suddenly found himself on the floor.

Temari howled with laughter and Christine was laughing so hard she was crying. Kankurou glared and then laughed as well.

"Guess there is only one chair left now." Christine said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hey Kankurou, now you owe her a new chair." Temari smirked.

"No, it's quite alright. It was going to be replaced anyway." 'Which is going to have to wait until I have the money.' Christine smiled at the irony.

Kankurou got up slowly. He could barely refrain from kicking the remains of the chair.

"Look on the bright side. At least the floor is clean. Or it was clean until my brother fell on it." Temari shrugged still smirking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kankurou glared at her.

Christine shifted uncomfortably.

He noticed and smiled at her. "We do this all the time. Don't take it too seriously."

Temari nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I always insult him and he tends to return the favour. All in good will of course." But when her brother looked away she whispered into her ear: "My brother is usually too retarded to understand half of the insults."

As the two of them snickered Kankurou turned his attention back to them and narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to be talking about me?"

"Nope. You're not that interesting." Temari answered dryly with a flick of her wrist.

He growled in annoyance.

Christine was staring off into space. 'I know I wasn't supposed to accept any help, but asking them if they know anyone that has some work for me wouldn't be helping exactly. I would still be surviving on my own right?' She frowned when a hand was waving up and down in front of her.

"Nice to have you back in the land of the living. Anything new on the other side?"

"Not really, just a bunch of dead people as usual." She replied without hesitation.

"Next time, tell them I said hi."

"I will."

Kankurou shook his head. "Are all girls nuts or is that just me?"

"Only the good-looking ones." Christine replied with a half smile.

"That isn't possible." He said with a serious look on his face. "That would mean that Temari is normal."

Temari turned red and hit him over the head. "Are you saying that I'm ugly?"

"That was a known fact." He stated, earning himself another whack over the head.

"I hate to break the moment however I was wondering…"

Temari quirked a brow as she turned to look at her. "Shoot."

"You wouldn't happen to know anyone that has a job for me? I mean, I'm kind of unemployed right now."

Kankurou's eyes shone but before he could answer Temari hit him again. "Don't listen to anything he says. He'll probably encourage you to become a stripper or something. I know someone who is looking for a waitress. If you're interested I could have a word with them?"

She ran up to Temari and hugged her. "Thank you so much."

"Don't I get a hug?" Kankurou asked sweetly.

"For what?" Temari answered with a sneer.

He pretended to look hurt. "I helped too."

"No you didn't. Now go and get some chores done."

"You're evil."

"I'm your sister."

"That's even worse."

Before they could continue Christine gave him a brief hug.

Grinning like a madman he left. Temari chuckled. "You do realize it only makes it harder to get rid of him now?"

"He's a nice guy."

"If you say so. I should go too. Might as well stop by my friend today to see if he's interested in hiring you."

"Thanks again." She hugged Temari goodbye.

"No problem." With that the blonde woman left.

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Read & Review

Cya ;)


	3. Chapter 3

And here is yet another chapter. Too bad it's already my last day in Belgium. Oh well, next stop: CANADA. Hell yeah. Lolz.

Anywayz, there have been few reviews when it comes to this story. Should I just stop?

For now, enjoy though ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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That same evening Temari dropped by again. Casually strolling into her apartment as if she owned the place she smirked. "You start tomorrow."

Christine's mouth hung open. Pulling herself back together she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Doesn't he want to meet me first?"

Temari shrugged. "Rick has a crush on me; he'll do anything for me. Besides, he knows I have a good judgment of people."

"How can I ever thank you?"

"Well, make me dinner some time and we'll call it even." Temari frowned as she looked in the empty cupboards. "You're going to have to do some shopping first though."

Christine smiled hesitantly. "I was going to. You know a cheap supermarket around here?"

"You make it sound like this neighbourhood has expensive ones. You'd have to go to the other part of town for those. Try the 7/11. They have good prices and it's not too far from here. Not to mention it is one of the few that are open right now."

"Where is that exactly?" She emptied her bag, looking for her wallet.

"Just go out of the building, turn right, take the second street on the left, followed by the fifth street on the right and it'll be straight ahead. I'll come pick you up tomorrow to show you where you're supposed to work. I've got stuff to do now so I have to go. Take care." And with that she was out the door before Christine could say anything else.

Grabbing her keys she made sure to look the door. 'Not that there is much to steal.' Tightening her grip on her backpack she walked outside.

For a moment she enjoyed the fresh air. Then she became aware that she was being watched. She quickened her pace and dashed into the second street on the left.

It was dark, half the streetlights weren't even working. Still she managed to find her way almost bumping in to a man who yelled at her.

A group of people stood around a fire an almost sinister gleam in their eyes as they stared at her.

'How many streets had it been?' She thought she had already passed three streets but she was starting to doubt herself.

Her body froze up when she heard footsteps behind her. It sounded like more than one person. She tried to calm herself down when suddenly someone grabbed her wrist.

The guy was smirking while he looked her over. "Well, look what I've got here." He mumbled so close to her she nearly gagged at the stench of alcohol washing over her. "Want to have some fun with us?" Laughing sounded behind her.

Desperately she tried to pull her arm out of is grip but he was too strong. She shivered as he traced down her spine with his finger.

There were five other guys with him who came closer as well. "What's wrong? Don't you want to please us?" He sneered.

"Let her go." A voice spoke up.

"Just who do you think you are?" The guys all pulled out knives.

Slowly the other stepped into the light. His eyes eerily glowing as he glared at them.

The guy let her arm go as if bitten. They were shaking as they carefully moved around him, holding their knives in front of them as protection. Then they ran, as fast as they could. One fell and scrambled up as he hastily continued to flee.

"You seem to be very good in getting yourself into trouble."

She looked at the guy and saw to her astonishment that her saviour was none other than the redhead she had met before. "You must be Gaara."

His eyes narrowed as his glare turned to her.

"I met your sister Temari. And your brother Kankurou. Thanks for saving me."

"They were on my turf. Only I have the right to harm you."

'Psycho… Still better than those other guys though.' "Are you going to the supermarket?" Taking his silence as a yes she continued. "Since we're going in the same direction we might as well walk together right?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Fine." 'Though no one has ever done so willingly.' He thought to himself eyeing the brunette next to him. "You do realize that I am considered the most dangerous around here. Usually people avoid me."

"In other words you're the perfect person to walk with." She said smiling brightly.

He glanced at her with a surprised look in his eyes but she had already looked away. 'She is something else…'

As they reached the supermarket she stopped for a moment. 'This is the supermarket?' She shook off her prejudices and squared her shoulders. She pushed the door open.

Looking around for a basket she was slightly annoyed when she found none. Noticing Gaara was studying her she headed towards the first isle. 'Alright… The basics should suffice for now.' She grabbed a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. Next she took hold of a carton of milk and then went to look for some cereal.

"Are you almost done?" He snarled impatiently.

"Almost." She replied scurrying from isle to isle. Poking her head out to face him she frowned. "Don't you need anything?" She asked him curiously.

Gaara growled in annoyance, stalked into the third isle, snatched a loaf of bread and stomped over to the cash register dropping it scaring the poor woman behind it. "Done." He declared as he crossed his arms.

She giggled at the expression of the poor woman and the sight he made. Almost like a little kid who didn't get what he wanted. Taking some bottled water and apples with her she went over to the cash register and placed her things down.

In the meantime Gaara had paid the woman and was once again waiting for her. "Hurry up."

She was about to retort when she realized that it hadn't been directed at her but the woman behind the cash register who was nearly fainting. She smiled sympathetically at her, while giving Gaara a stern look. "She's going as fast as she can."

The woman stiffened. Everyone knew who Gaara was and no one dared to talk to him in such a manner. She feared for the girl's life.

Gaara just smirked at her. "It isn't fast enough."

She sighed. "You're hopeless."

"You just realized that?" He was leaning against the counter.

"No. But I'd almost begun to think there was hope for you yet."

"Don't. It's a waste of time." He said without missing a beat.

"I noticed." She grinned. "Thanks for being concerned enough to try to prevent me from wasting time though."

He growled again. "Don't think too much of it."

The woman behind the cash register was following their exchange in bewilderment and with growing curiosity.

Stuffing everything in her backpack she swung it onto her back. Gaara just carried the bread along with him.

Christine wasn't looking forward to going back through those streets again. 'At least I'm not alone this time.' She felt slightly uncomfortable. Everyone was watching them, only it was different from last time. Most now looked scared and some looked about ready to kill them. Unconsciously she stepped closer to Gaara.

He glanced at her. 'What is she doing?' She was practically touching him. Following her gaze he saw what she was looking at. She was afraid of a bunch of guys… His eyes narrowed. Those weren't just any guys. They were part of a rival gang. Roughly he gripped her arm and dragged her along.

"Gaara? You're hurting me."

"Shut up." He dragged her into an alley and pushed her up against the wall his hand on her mouth.

The guys soon left knowing they had been seen and they were endangering themselves if they stayed longer.

Her breathing evened out after a while as she noticed he was paying attention to someone or something other than her. He wasn't going to hurt her…today.

"Are they gone?" She whispered softly.

He looked down at her. Did she trust him that easily? "Yeah."

Walking up to their building she entered just before he did. Nearly running up the stairs she made her way to her apartment. She put her key in the lock and was just about to turn it when she felt a presence next to her.

There stood Gaara again, a strange expression in his eyes. His hand shot by her face, hitting the wall, effectively preventing her from opening her door. "Next time you go out…" His breath tickled her face. "Be more careful." His eyes locked with hers and she found herself lost.

Then he pulled away and left her standing there.

Rushing inside she shut the door. Breathing heavily as her heart pounded in her chest she leaned against the door. 'What was _that_?' She put her food down and started to put her things away. Her mind still caught up in what could have happened. Various scenarios played through her head, from him killing her to him kissing her. The latter made her blush.

Wait… Did she want him to kiss her? Could it be possible she wanted this psycho to… She dropped the apples. They rolled everywhere scattered and she bent to pick them up meanwhile trying to clear her head. What was she thinking? She was happy with her boyfriend Eric. The last thing she needed was some guy to screw up everything she had going. This was nothing more than a fluke. She dropped onto her bed, tired.

Gaara threw the door open and stalked into the apartment he shared with his brother and sister. He dropped the bread on the counter and headed towards his room.

"Gaara?" Temari called to him. She raised her eyebrows when she noticed the bread on the counter.

The door to his room slammed shut.

"We still had plenty of bread." Temari shrugged, knowing he didn't hear her. She was probably never going to understand her younger brother.

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And that's that. Let me know if you want me to continue this, because otherwise I feel like I'm wasting your time as well as mine.

Read & Review

Cya ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Wow… I haven't written anything in a long time… A very long time. I've been on vacation, I've moved across the ocean, I've started university and gained a six-year-old little brother o.O with WAAAAAY too much energy... I wonder if I can borrow some... Anywayz that's no excuse so I'm going to make up for it! I promise this to all my loyal fans (which I don't have, who would be a fan of me o.o? lolz). This one's done and I am working on the next chapter of Selidas. Hopefully I can finish it by Thursday.

o.O I burnt my tongue on something.

So tell me what you think, if you have ideas or anything just throw them in the review. I'll be happy to hear them.

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An alarm clock went off. Still sleepy at first Christine couldn't quite place the sound. After a few minutes she realized what it was. Trying to slam on it to silence it she missed and the thing fell to the ground and kept ringing. Great. Just fantastic. Now she had to get out of bed. Trying to avoid having to get all the way out of bed she reached for the alarm clock and…fell off the bed. Grumbling she finally got her hands on the alarm and shut it off.

She just grabbed an apple for breakfast and looked at the clock. It was 7:30 am. She bit in her apple again eyes still glazed. Until after a couple of bites…

"SHIT!" Jumping off the chair knocking it over in the process she ran to her room and got dressed. "There's no way I'm going to be late on my first day." She kept repeating that over and over again.

Running out of the house, down the stairs and across various streets (and nearly getting hit by cars) she stopped before a little café named Oasis. Hesitantly she stepped inside. Behind the bar was tall man, with black hair and a moustache.

"Excuse me…" She started. "I am looking for Rick?"

"You found him. What do you want? Please don't beg me to go out with you, you're not my type."

Her eye twitched. "Temari said you were willing to give me a job?"

"Ah, so you're that girl Temari was talking about. How is my precious Temari doing?" He asked eagerly.

Her other eye started to twitch. "She is doing quite well actually."

"So her cold's all better?" He grinned. "Then she can finally go out with me."

Biting her lip Christine knew she had to do something. She had just annihilated Temari's excuse for not going out with this guy. Smirking she leaned forward. "I'm not supposed to tell this to anyone, but Temari never had a cold."

His eyes went wide. "What?"

She beckoned him to come closer. "She was trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Yes. You see. Her brother is a little overprotective and the last couple of guys she went out with mysteriously disappeared. Surely you know her brother… He is quite dangerous."

"Kankuro? The doll boy?" He laughed sneeringly.

'Kankuro happens to be way more 'cool' than you could ever dream of being, you stupid… Focus Christine…' "No…" She smiled. "Sabaku no Gaara."

The sorry excuse for a moustache twitched and his face paled considerably.

"But of course… You could always meet in secret. Only if he were to ever find out…"

"No that's okay." Rick laughed nervously.

Laughing Christine mentally congratulated herself. "Now about my job..."

_Nine hours later..._

Christine was exhausted. She had just come home from her first day of work and was worn out. So many things were different from what she was used to, the work, the food and the people.

The people were the worst. They kept grabbing her and trying to feel her up. Luckily they left her alone a bit after she had slapped one of them that had tried to stick his hand up her skirt. She smirked. That had left a nice handprint. Her boss hadn't been too happy about that but he hadn't said anything.

Rubbing her sore muscles she got up. She felt like a nice hot shower, right about now. As she stepped in the bathroom she eyed her surroundings. It was at least clean now but still not worthy of the term bathroom. She shrugged. It would have to do for now.

Slowly undressing she turned the water on to get the temperature right. It sputtered a bit and then stopped. She tried again. This time there was no water at all. Rubbing her temples in frustration she tried one last time. 'Third time's the charm...' Nothing.

Clamping her mouth shut to keep her from screaming in frustration she stomped off. Grabbing her clothes she sat down as she put the back on. She was just ready when someone knocked on her door.

The knocking persisted despite the fact that she was ignoring it. Getting up finally she walked over. She threw the door open and stalked off.

"It went that well on your first day?" Temari stood in the doorway grinning like a maniac.

"Fantastic." Christine said with a sour face. "The job was okay aside from the men grabbing me…BUT NOW THE GODDAMN SHOWER WON'T WORK."

Temari shook her head. "There is always something wrong in these apartments. You'll learn that soon enough. Although for now, don't sweat about it." She snickered as Christine glared at her. "You can always use our shower."

Christine's face brightened. "Really?" Then she frowned. "And what about Kankuro and Gaara."

"Gaara may be insane, but he's not a pervert. Besides he's hardly ever home. And Kankuro isn't home today."

Sighing in relief, Christine got up to grab a towel. She grimaced as she remembered she had only taken a little one. She'd have to buy new ones.

Raising an eyebrow Temari looked over her shoulder. "You don't have much, do you?"

Deciding it was best not to answer that question Christine shrugged.

"Come on. I'll give you one of mine." Temari grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along. Dragging her all the way to her room Temari threw a big green towel over to her.

The shower is the door next to mine. Walk out of this room and then it's on your right. Have fun." She laughed.

Christine smiled slightly as well. 'Maybe this day isn't so bad after all.'

Enjoying the feel of the water on her she stood in the shower slightly longer than she had planned. Wrapping the big towel around her she used her own towel to dry her hair.

Temari sat in the living room waiting for Christine. Her mind wandered off to Gaara's strange behavior as of late. Well, even stranger than she was used to, it was Gaara after all.

Suddenly she heard a door open. Still lost in her thoughts she didn't think too much of it when Gaara walked by. "Hey Gaara." She said receiving a grunt in return. Her brain was not completely registering the information until she noticed where he was headed.

"Gaara…" She got up trying to stop him but it was too late. Her face had a worried expression and she prayed her friend would be alright as she hastily made her to the bathroom. She decided to wait outside, knowing it was best not to rile Gaara up even more. Who knows what could happen?

Christine was standing with her back towards the door when she heard it open. "Hey Temari…" She started to say however she stopped when she saw who it was. It was as if her brain had stopped functioning.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He hissed his eyes flashing with rage.

"My shower wasn't working and Temari said I could use your shower." She managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper.

Within a blink of an eye Gaara had pinned her to wall, his knife at her throat.

Scaring her with this sudden action her eyes widened as she accidentally let go of the towel. As if it were in slow motion the towel fell to the ground leaving her completely exposed. She had never felt more self conscious.

Gaara's eyes widened a fraction, his eyes automatically following the towel and unconsciously landing elsewhere. The lightest tinge of red could be seen on his face, though it disappeared as soon as it came.

Christine was now beet red and bowed her head to avoid having to look him in the eyes again, her hair covering her face.

Turning his attention back to her face he recovered quickly. He growled and pushed her against the wall, his hand around her neck. "Get dressed and get out." Then he released her and left.

Shaking slightly she sunk onto the floor and threw the towel around herself again.

The moment he left Temari came through the door running. "I am so sorry about that. I couldn't stop him. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just not my day." Christine tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Well that had been awkward. But at the same time… She got red again thinking about the predatory gaze he had given her. And yet… there had been something else in his eyes, something she couldn't decipher. Or maybe she had imagined it, it was gone before she could get a closer look.

Checking her for wounds Temari was shocked when she found none. Aside from a few light bruises he hadn't hurt her. _Gaara _hadn't hurt her. Inside she was smirking evilly. Maybe there was hope for her little brother yet.

Gaara slammed the door of his room shut and dropped himself on his bed. While staring at his ceiling his mind wandered back to her. A devilish smirk flashed across his face. He had liked what he had seen. Perhaps he should do that more often…

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Anywayz, that was the chapter. And what did you think? And what did you think? And what did you think? And… Hehe sorry. Blame it on university. They're all nuts here. Naturally… I am going to this school. In fact… I might be the only normal one here (coughs innocently).

Read & Review

Cya,


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own Eric and Christine and the landlord (and only I can decide their fate muahahahahaha)... Where are my cookies?

Er… Upfront I apologize to Sasuke/Ino/Karin fans who happen to be reading this story. And I think the rating went up… a bit. O.O

I'm hungry... xX

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE AIN'T NOTHING YOU CAN DO?! YOU ARE THE LANDLORD!!" Christine yelled her fists clenched and shaking. Trying to calm herself down she took a deep breath. "There is no more water in my apartment at all. How is this acceptable?"

The landlord smiled a toothy grin. "The last tenant was a druggie and a whore so she didn't need no water. Besides, ain't nobody who'd wanna come to this place to fix stuff. Not unless you got money. And ain't nobody with money who'd live here." He roared with laughter slamming his fist on the desk. "Now get lost!"

"This is not the end of this!" Stomping off Christine headed back. 'That pig… I swear... One day I will make him pay... I know! I'll make him take a bath.' Cackling evilly she rubbed her hands in delight. Suddenly the image of her landlord taking a bath (naked...) flashed before her eyes and her nose crinkled in disgust as she let out a rather loud: "Ew!"

"Hey. Are you alright?" A deep voice called out from behind her.

Christine stopped and turned to look.

Behind her was a tall, handsome man with hair like midnight and one hell of a body. He looked around her age.

Her jaw almost dropped... Almost. "Yeah... No... My water doesn't work." She ran her hands through her hair trying to avoid his eyes. "And that our dear landlord refuses to do anything to fix it."

"Don't worry about him. He never fixes anything. I don't even think he knows how. To be honest I'm surprised this building is still standing. If you want I could try to fix it for you?" He moved closer. "I'm pretty handy when it comes to plumbing."

Christine could just about cry of happiness. Her problems were solved! "Really?"

He smiled. "Really. Consider it my way of welcoming you. It's not often that one finds beautiful, honest girls like you in this neighbourhood." He winked at her. "So where are you from? You don't seem to be from around here."

She laughed nervously. "Well... I used to live in Miami. I live in 213. I'm Christine. Nice to meet you!" She held out her hand with a big smile on her face.

Grabbing her hand he brought it to his mouth and kissed it. "I'm Sasuke. The pleasure is all mine. Is it okay if I come in about an hour or so?"

Blushing as she realized he was still holding her hand she quickly pulled it back. "Sounds great." She ran off quickly to make a phone call while waving goodbye but failed to see the grin now creeping onto Sasuke's face.

He went up the stairs to the 6th floor. Immediately as he opened the door both Ino and Karin ran at him and each grabbed an arm. "Sasuke-kun!" They shouted in union and then glared at each other.

"He's mine pig." Karin snarled.

"As if four eyes." Ino growled.

They went at each other pulling on their hair, screeching like banshees and scratching like mad.

Irritated Sasuke swiped at the girls knocking them both on the ground. "Fuck off!" Heading for the fridge he grabbed himself a beer and sat down. The girls were still sniveling on the ground. Rolling his eyes Sasuke took a swig. "How much money did the two of you make today?"

Ino crossed her arms and Karin pushed back her glasses both avoiding his gaze. Eventually Ino answered. "We only made 560 dollars today."

"WHAT?!" Sasuke roared as his beer crashed to the ground. He quickly crossed the room and grabbed Ino by the neck, pushing her against the wall. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Ino groaned as her back slammed into the wall.

"It was a slow day Sasuke! We only had 3 tricks for the half hour and one for the hour!" Karin pleaded with him fearing she would be next.

Snorting he dropped Ino. "You fuckin' whores can't do nothing right. All you have to do is spread your damn legs. I want each of you to make another 1000 dollars each by tonight or don't bother coming back cause I will fuckin' kill you."

Karin's eyes were wide. "But how are we…"

"Do I look like I give a shit? Do whatever is necessary." He then smirked as he unzipped his pants. "Now let's test those skills of yours."

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"NO WAY!!" Christine shouted as she rummaged through her backpack. "Where is my cell phone?!" Wildly shaking her bag suddenly her phone came crashing out. Grabbing it she flipped it open and sighed relieved when she saw it was still working.

Humming happily she skipped out of her room only to realize the mess she just made. She froze in mid-skip.

Hot guy coming to apartment…

Apartment a mess…

Female items spread throughout room…

As those three facts spiraled through her mind her eyes went wide in panic and she ran like a crazy woman to shove everything back in the closet. She sweat dropped. 'It's amazing how much stuff one can fit in just one backpack.'

With both Gaara and Sasuke running through her head it took her longer than usual. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Gaara was intimidating and his eyes seemed to see right through her. And Sasuke was so dark and mysterious; but he seemed very nice.

She giggled like schoolgirl trying to smack her face in order to snap out of it. 'I am already taken.' She thought, almost with a hint of regret. Shaking her head to get rid of her thoughts she firmly gripped her phone. "I need to call Eric."

Finally satisfied she plopped on her couch and dialed Eric's number. She finally got through on the 9th try.

"Hello, Eric speaking." He sounded gruff.

"Hey Eric. It's Christine. Hope I didn't wake you."

"Christine…?" A pause. "No, you didn't wake me. How are you? I thought you were working on your new book?"

She hesitated. "I am. I missed you a lot. I just had to talk to you." She got up to grab a drink. "What is that sound in the background?" Hanging on to the phone with her right hand she poured the lemonade with her left.

Her boyfriend suddenly groaned.

"Are you okay??" Christine asked with a worried tone in her voice.

"Yes. It's just the television. I was watching a movie."

"What movie?" Christine tucked in her feet and smiled.

"Er… Pulp Fiction or something."

"What's it about?"

"I don't know; it just started. Oh hey sorry, I need to go. My work phone is ringing."

"I don't hear…"

Click.

Christine sighed. He was always so busy.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

"Did you finally get that bitch off the fuckin' phone?" A voice came from behind Eric.

He grinned. "Watch your mouth Tayuya."

"Fuckin' make me." She smirked back letting her robe slide off her body while crawling onto his bed.

Taking in her figure Eric licked his lips. "With pleasure." His hands gripping her arms he roughly pulled her toward him.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Hearing a knock on the door Christine ran to open it. As the door flung open she saw Sasuke leaning against the doorpost. Her heart almost skipped a beat.

"Hey." He smirked. "Aren't you gonna invite me in?"

Read and review ;)

So how'd ya like this chapter? (Sorry it was a bit short and a bit... well... yeah. Toronto is good for inspiration o.o You meet lots of interesting people... I guess.)

Note: a trick is a client

Let's not yield to Saucegay and his girly ways! (insert Rock Lee/ Gai pose at your own risk)


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